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If experience meant competence to the typical person, John McCain would be President of the United States of America. Many people prefer to hire a fast learning young person for a manager job than than a senior person with 20 years of experience.
Well, if a person's LIFESTYLE as well as experience and education calls for a higher salary, that is what they will look for. The "lifestyle" came from the salary they were use to making and a "lifestyle" just doesn't change overnight. People know what they are worth and should ask for that salary......no matter what the economy is like. I mean, if you want to see a "state of depression" set in really quick, tell a person that they will be making a much lower salary than their "lifestyle" will allow! Yes, getting a job offer is really cool, but working your butt off for a lower salary (than use to) sure isn't!!!
Well, if a person's LIFESTYLE as well as experience and education calls for a higher salary, that is what they will look for. The "lifestyle" came from the salary they were use to making and a "lifestyle" just doesn't change overnight. People know what they are worth and should ask for that salary......no matter what the economy is like. I mean, if you want to see a "state of depression" set in really quick, tell a person that they will be making a much lower salary than their "lifestyle" will allow! Yes, getting a job offer is really cool, but working your butt off for a lower salary (than use to) sure isn't!!!
I think you are missing the piont.
Let's say that Tom works for the same employer as a Inventory Specialist for 20 years. After the first five he's got the job down, he just pretty much coasts along after that. Sure, he learns new inventory numbers or software programs--but so does the guy with three years time in who does the same job alongside him. Tom gets a raise every year from his boss, cost of living plus maybe a few bucks for being a loyal employee, because 20 years ago that's how companies operated.
Over the years Tom's skill set hasn't really changed other than to keep current, he's still doing the same job he was doing 15 years ago. He hasn't gotten a promotion to management, he's just done his job.
Fast forward. Tom's boss retires and sells the company, and the new company is going to bring in a sophisticated computer system to do Tom's job. Tom's given a handshake and a good luck. Now over the years, the old boss has been routinely giving Tom raises just ebcause he's "a good company man." He hasn't done anything to contribute further to the bottom line of the company, but he's routinely gotten raises. This has ended up with him making $75,000 a year for a job that the guy with five years experience gets a high end salary of $50,000 a year.
Tom begins looking for a new job, and is getting laughed at because he's looking for a job that can be done by someone with five years experience, and he's asking $25K over the "going rate." His additional experience doesn't make a difference in that position. Employers don't care how much he used to make, they want to pay a going salary--what the person with the experience to do the job is "worth" to the company.
Employers don't care about an employees bills, standard of living, or how much they are used to making. They care about the net value of the employee to the company. That's it.
If experience meant competence to the typical person, John McCain would be President of the United States of America. Many people prefer to hire a fast learning young person for a manager job than than a senior person with 20 years of experience.
I suppose that if someone sat in the same job for x number of years and did the same thing every day, it might be possible to achieve 'time put in' without competence. But with myself and a lot of my peers... we've worked at a lot of different companies and jobs (you can thank the business climate of the last 15 years for that!), and competence comes with experience. I've worked in different positions across different industries where I've acquired lots of different skills sets and a different 'industry' vocabulary and knowledge of technologies specific to each of those industries)... and going back to school for multiple degrees... then all the volunteer work outside of my regular job in different activities... you get a lot of competency that way. And this isn't unique, because I have friends in their 40s and 50s who have this kind of background too.
Whereas when I heard that McCain didn't even know how to use email, I was amazed--because I've been using the Internet for over 20 years (since when I could only chat in newsgroups through the connection provided by the company I was working at). The thought of someone like that... going all these years and never using email blows my mind. It's like someone saying they've never watched TV. But I think McCain (and granted, the man acts old enough to be my great-grandfather) is a rare exception. My mother is in her 70s and she is very comfortable with technology. She even set up an online dating service several years ago (until she ended up marrying a man she met through the service).
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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Exactly where are all of these brilliantly skilled, beautiful younger workers anyway? I'm definitely not encountering them in my professional or personal life. I've worked in public service, healthcare admin, and accounting, and the biggest producers, the movers/shakers, the ones who can deal with crisis and get things done have, for the most part, been the older workers. Some of the most respected people I work with are in their late 50's and 60's and they give us all a run for the money.
One thing that hasn't been brought up here is that people who've been in the workplace a while have seen it all before. Also, older workers have extensive networks/contacts that have taken years to build. Not to mention a reputation that precedes them. It's not just skills that employers want--and I'm not sure potential employees, especially younger ones, understand that. Employers basically want someone who can do the job and is pleasant to work with and makes the company money. At my current position, we just laid off an attractive young woman who had the skills, but whom no one really liked. On the other hand, we also hired a guy who's gotta be 50 and, uh, portly? and he is the most popular person in the company.
As far as pay goes, the people who are getting bonuses and raises right now are for, the most part, those that are making the company money. I'm also seeing lower starting pay with the potential for higher bonuses linked to productivity. I don't think that's a knock against experience. I think it's an issue of proving your worth and matching $ to productivity. I think that trend will continue.
I'm in my 30's. I'm sure there is age discrimination as well as any other type of discrimination that you can think of. But I also think that if you use your age/appearance/weight,etc as a crutch you're never going to get a job. Play up your strengths, bring your "A" game, bring the skill set (or get it), and keep learning. Be flexible. Realize that every single person you meet is a potential job lead or customer and treat them accordingly.
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